The dichotomy between religious and secular discourse In Islamic societies

Abstract

While fully realizing that there is no substitute for the experience, insight, and understanding that women bring to discussions of the issues raised in this brief paper, I believe that male advocates of the rights of women have a contribution to make. This is particularly important for forging an effective partnership between women and men advocates of the human rights of women. The real work has to be done within the Islamic societies in question, but strategies and alliances can and should be developed wherever there is the opportunity to do so. My basic thesis in this brief paper may be summarized as follows. First, I argue that although the apparent dichotomy between so-called religious and secular discourse about the rights of women in Islamic societies is somewhat false or grossly exaggerated, its implications are too serious to ignore in practice. It is therefore imperative to reconcile and integrate the two types of discourse, or minimize the significance of differences between them, in the interest of promoting the righrs of women in Islamic societies. Second, I suggest that it is conceptuallv possible to do so, but the advocates of the rights or women need to devise and implement appropnace strategies for realizing this possibility. In particular, they need not only to challenge traditional so-called Islamic doctrine and dogma about the rights or women, but also to develop and articulate the ir own Islamic justifications for the human rights of women.